


The Fall Will Always be Yours and Mine

by punk_rock_yuppie



Category: IT (2017)
Genre: Angst, Bittersweet/Happy Ending, Canon Compliant, Gen, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Multi, No Dialogue, Red String of Fate AU, Soulmate AU, canon character death, implied OT7
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-28
Updated: 2017-10-28
Packaged: 2019-01-25 16:38:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12536296
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/punk_rock_yuppie/pseuds/punk_rock_yuppie
Summary: Six strings connecting seven kids.





	The Fall Will Always be Yours and Mine

**Author's Note:**

> suddenly decided i wanted to write a red strings of fate au for the gang, and then part way through writing decided i wanted to incorporate all pieces of canon together, kind of. this takes place w/ the 2017 kids in mind, but takes pieces from the 1990 canon for their adulthood. there be angst ahead, but it's all canon angst. 
> 
> also, in case it is unclear: each loser has six strings on their pinky, connecting them to the other losers. 
> 
> big thanks to hannah as always!! 
> 
> i think that's all from me, enjoy!

The four of them come together because of the little red strings hanging from the tips of their pinky fingers.

Stan had always been told the strings would guide you to your soulmate—like his parents’ had—and always wondered by there were so many strings on his pinky.

Eddie had always been told the strings would only hurt him in the end—like his parents’ had—and always tried to cut each string, all six, to no avail.

Bill had always been told the strings were important, but not the end all-be all of his life—his parents had both lost their first soulmates, and found each other, but their strings were broken on the ends—and never paid his six strings much mind.

Richie had never been told anything about the strings—because his parents weren’t soulmates—and always hoped the little red threads meant something more for him.

They meet one fateful day in kindergarten, and suddenly some of the jumbled, tangled mess on their hands unravels. They’re all drawn to each other in the middle of the field, right beside the jungle gym. As they get closer and closer, four threads start to right themselves into perfectly taut lines.

They stare at each other, at their hands, and even though none of them really understand what it means—something in the universe settles.

 

None of them expect the fourth string to make an appearance at the start of the third grade. Beverly Marsh is new, and pretty, and quiet. She walks into their class one day and all four boys snap to attention. She freezes in the doorway and looks down at her own right hand, at the four strings that have suddenly untangled themselves for her.

None of them expect the play, or the kiss, or the way Beverly avoids them after that.

That’s when Eddie tells them all what his mother told him. That the strings will only hurt them in the end. Stanley argues that they’re _soulmates_ , how can soulmates hurt each other. Bill agrees with both of them, which doesn’t help matters. Richie doesn’t say anything, because after all these years he’s still not sure what the strings mean and all he does know is he doesn’t want to lose his friends over Beverly Marsh.

 

None of them expect the fifth string to come suddenly taut when they’re in the barrens. They don’t expect the person attached to their fifth string to crash into the rocks with a bloody _‘h’_ carved into his stomach. None of them are sure how it’s taken so long for this string to untangle, when Ben has been at their school since September. None of them bother to wonder for long, it doesn’t matter.  

As they guide Ben back to town, to the alley beside the convenience shop, none of them say anything. All of them only have one string left tangled, which means Ben knows Beverly, and it’s calming as much as it is frustrating. Even more frustrating is seeing her inside the convenience shop, and how she’s immediately ready to help them.

The string is taut—as it has been since third grade—but it feels different this time. It feels more real, more permanent. As Bill, Stan, and Eddie stumble out of the shop, the string doesn’t waver or stress. As Beverly watches them go, something once more settles within the universe.

The six of them in the alley way feels like standing on the edge of a precipice—almost more so than standing at the edge of the quarry the next day. As they watch Beverly be the first to take the running leap, the strings tug them along and they all follow after with a laugh.

 

Mike is their sixth string, and it’s somehow fitting that the string unknots itself in the midst of a rock war. Battling back Henry and his goons feels like the best way to bring Mike into their circle, the best way for all the strings to finally be clean and smooth. Six untangled strings bringing together seven tangled up kids.

Afterwards, as they sit around the fair, they stare at the strings connecting them. Red, and brighter than ever.

Aloud, Bill wonders if there’s ever been anything like this before. No one has an answer.

They talk about It, and their fears, and the threads seem to shake with their conversation. The universe comes to life in the strings as though it’s trying to protect them. The quiver of the strings is like nothing any of them have felt before.

It feels like a warning.

One that none of them heed.

  


They don’t have long before Beverly leaves. It feels so wrong; it feels like the string will snap with the distance, even though they know that’s not true. They promise to write and call and make plans to visit, one way or another. In their hearts they know it won’t happen but it helps to pretend. They talk about visiting Bev in Portland, and how maybe they’ll all make a trip to Seattle together, just because they can. They talk about Bev coming back—to visit or for good—and how one day they’ll all get out of this town together.

They talk for hours; they talk and they cry and at the end of it all, they feel better and worse.

  
  


They do get out of Derry, eventually. But even with the strings hanging from their pinky fingers, they all slowly forget. They can still see the ties of fate, but what they mean is lost on each of the Losers as the years go by.

Eventually, Mike calls them back; the strings seem to shine brighter once more.

 

Until one snaps, and Stan is the only one to not return to Derry.

Until another one snaps, and Richie kisses Eddie goodbye, and regrets not kissing him more.

 

At the end of it all, with two strings hanging limply from their pinky fingers, they promise to never forget again.


End file.
